Team leader is Wei Xuedong. After finishing his work, he finally had time to talk to Wen Jiajia.

“Are you the new person next door?”

He took the paper from Wen Jiajia’s hand, looked at it carefully, and then took out a cigarette from his pocket, placing it in his mouth without lighting it.

Wen Jiajia said, “Yes, Team Leader Wei, I just joined yesterday. The production of two drugs in our team did not meet expectations, and Director Xue asked me to find out what happened.”

Wei Xuedong didn’t respond immediately and just watched her.

After a while, he nodded and said, “Finally, the office next door has hired someone decent enough.”

The organization was pretty well done. God knows how much trouble Qiao He caused when he was organizing it.

Logically speaking, this data should have been recorded in the office, but at that time, Li Haijun was the only one there. Not only was he forgetful, but he also had a poor memory and even wrote the name of a medicine wrong.

But Li Haijun is the nephew of the deputy director of the purchasing department, and you from Workshop No. 6 have to give him some face.

Under his protest, a serious technical secondary school student was finally assigned to the next office.

But who would have thought that Qiao He was good at writing but incompetent in everything else?

He had been there for half a month and had managed to offend half of the workers in the workshop.

As a result, after Director Xue cleaned up the mess for him, he was reassigned to other work, which he did quite well.

Especially in workshop safety—it’s perfect to have this serious person in charge.

Then there’s Sha Yue, a factory worker who grew up in a family compound. How could the factory elders not know her level? Her mother is quite capable, but she took after her father. When she was in school, she was often called to the principal’s office. You can’t expect much from her, but you might as well expect her not to cause trouble.

In short, the office of the Sixth Workshop used to be a group of incompetent people, but unexpectedly, they recruited someone quite capable this time.

Wen Jiajia didn’t know that Wei Xuedong had thought so much in such a short time. Seeing that he didn’t reply for a while, she asked the question again.

“It’s all because of the lack of raw materials, plus the blast pot caused the pipes to get clogged. We were just about to dismantle it. It’s good enough to produce what we did. This month’s quantity will be even less,” Wei Xuedong said, frowning as he returned the paper to Wen Jiajia. “Well, just tell Director Xue this. Also, help me make a new copy of your data. Then I’ll give you this month’s data, and you can start sorting it out.”

“…”

Wen Jiajia: “Okay.”

She wanted to ask if her boss was Director Xue, but her instinct told her to keep quiet and go back to her office.

After she sat down, she started copying with a calm expression. The other three people in the office couldn’t tell whether Wen Jiajia had been criticized or not.

Lao Wei is a very meticulous person. Many people in the workshop said that he must have been choked by a fish bone in his previous life, which is why he’s so nitpicky in this life. He will even scold you if your handwriting is too ugly.

Wen Jiajia didn’t say anything and finished copying in a few minutes. She took both copies out, gave Team Leader Wei the original copy that smelled of cigarette smoke, and took the newly copied one to Director Xue’s office.

“Director, this is the sorted data for April.” Wen Jiajia placed the document and the final data on Director Xue’s desk.

Director Xue took it and nodded. “What did Team Leader Wei say?”

Wen Jiajia: “Team Leader Wei gave two reasons. The main reason is the reduction of raw materials, and the second reason is that the flushing pot caused the pipeline to be blocked. Oh, he also asked me to sort out the data for May.”

Director Xue frowned, looked at the paper, and didn’t speak for a long time.

“The pipe is clogged? Has it been repaired now?” she asked.

Wen Jiajia had no idea whether the repairs had been completed or not, so she said, “When I went there just now, Director Wei said that they were in the process of dismantling it, but I don’t know the details.”

“Then it hasn’t been repaired,” Director Xue said.

He tapped the table with his fingers, making a “click, click, click” sound.

Wen Jiajia didn’t say anything and waited for Director Xue’s instructions.

Director Xue said, “Then you can continue to sort out this month’s data. Wait until this afternoon…are you free this afternoon?”

Wen Jiajia: “Yes.”

“Can you write fast?”

Wen Jiajia: “Not bad.”

In fact, her typing level was just average. If asked if she types fast, she would definitely say “very fast.”

“Then you can come with me to the meeting at three o’clock this afternoon.” Director Xue waved his hand and said, “Go and get busy. Ask Lao Wei for the data.”

Wen Jiajia nodded. “Okay, Director.”

After leaving Director Xue’s office, she went straight to the workshop to find Team Leader Wei to get the data and then started organizing it without stopping.

The three people in the office saw her coming and going in a hurry, and frowning and silent when she came back, which made others feel uneasy.

How should I put it? They were afraid that Wen Jiajia wouldn’t be able to do things, but they were also afraid that she would be too good at doing things.

If she was too capable, wouldn’t it make them seem too incompetent? So the atmosphere became weird again, and everyone fell silent.

Wen Jiajia didn’t have time to care about so many things.

She was really busy. The data for May was obviously messier, and she only managed to sort it out up to May 12th by 11:30. She also had to accompany Director Xue to a meeting at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

“Jia Jia, do you want to go eat?” Sha Yue broke the silence.

Wen Jiajia threw the pen away and rubbed her neck. “Sure.”

Man is iron, and rice is steel. Only when you have enough food can you work better.

The two of them went to canteen No. 2.

“You still eat white rice?” Sha Yue was surprised.

“Yeah…I’ve had a bad stomach these days.”

Today, Wen Jiajia still had white rice. It is rare in this era for someone like her to eat white rice five days a week.

For example, Sha Yue’s conditions are good enough. She has been eating brown rice these two days.

Wen Jiajia felt that she should get closer to others, as eating white rice frequently could easily lead to trouble.

Sha Yue said, “Your stomach isn’t in good condition, so you need to eat more steamed buns and noodles.”

Wen Jiajia thanked her and said she would take note of it.

What’s on the menu? Shredded potatoes and shredded lettuce.

Wen Jiajia was fine, but Sha Yue grumbled, “There’s no meat at all today. My mouth is almost dry.”

“Hey Sha Yue, is our canteen open at night?” Wen Jiajia asked curiously. When she left yesterday, she saw smoke rising from above the canteen.

Sha Yue nodded. “Of course. We still have workers on the night shift here, and some people work overtime, so they always need to eat.”

She glanced around and whispered, “There’s actually a small cafeteria inside the No. 2 canteen. Leaders usually eat there, including at night. Did you see the state-owned restaurant yesterday?”

Wen Jiajia immediately showed a curious expression. “I saw it. What’s the matter?”

“That place and the small kitchen are prepared for the leaders. Sometimes… some people go to the state-owned restaurant to eat when they come, and sometimes they eat in the small canteen,” Sha Yue said meaningfully.

She didn’t go into details—some things can’t be explained fully.

Wen Jiajia didn’t understand at first, so she mixed the two kinds of silk. The more she mixed, the slower she moved, and gradually, she figured out the trick.

If the leader from above is upright and doesn’t like crooked ways, they will take people to a state-owned restaurant for dinner.

State-owned restaurants are “public,” meaning if they say they will serve four dishes and one soup, then they will serve only four dishes and one soup, with no table transactions. It is a formal meal, and the leaders can eat with peace of mind.

It’s different in the canteen. What you eat there isn’t the sweet and sour pork tenderloin and braised pork from the state-owned restaurant, but freshly caught grouper, big hairy crabs and lobsters that are still alive, and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall^[1]“Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” (佛跳墙, fó tiào qiáng) is a famous and luxurious Chinese dish known for its complex preparation and rich, exquisite taste.—a dish that takes a whole day and night to make with broth from pork, chicken, and beef bones.

The pharmaceutical factory could not have expanded to this scale under the leadership of a one-track mind. So, different people require different places for entertainment.

She didn’t like it, but there was nothing she could do about it.

When they finished lunch, the second wave of people arrived, and the second wave of dishes was served. This time, the dishes included meat, and there were a few pieces of shredded lean meat in the shredded potatoes.

Sha Yue curled her lips. “Workshop workers are more valued than we are.”

Wen Jiajia smiled but thought to herself that in any factory, the most valuable people are the front-line workshop workers and researchers. Those who sit in offices are really no match for them.

She didn’t plan to take a lunch break today and continued to busy herself with organizing data after arriving back at the office.

Maybe because she was full, she found herself thinking faster.

It was another sunny day, and the sun was scorching hot. Wen Jiajia had to put a notebook on the window to block out the heat.

There was no way to block it completely, but it created a shadow around the desk.

Two of the other three people in the office had already gone back; only Sha Yue remained.

According to her, Li Haijun was assigned a dormitory thanks to his uncle, and Qiao He, being a technical secondary school student, was already assigned a dormitory.

Only she, although her home is in the factory, has many people at home. She would rather stay in the office than go home and listen to her brother and sister-in-law’s gossip.

After Wen Jiajia learned that Sha Yue had three older brothers, she roughly guessed her situation.

Again, how big could the house be at that time? The Sha family must be crowded, and with more people, there would be more things to do.

Moreover, when Sha Yue’s mother gave the job to her, she didn’t know whether the other family members agreed, but they must have been unhappy. There was only one job, and no matter who received it, others would feel it was unfair.

Furthermore, even if Sha Yue’s salary is handed over to the family for public use, it can’t be compared to her mother’s salary, which is another source of contradiction.

Wen Jiajia was puzzled. “Is it difficult to apply for a dormitory in our factory? With so many people in your family, the factory should understand.”

Sha Yue twitched her lips slightly. “My brother and sister-in-law won’t let me. If I live in the dormitory, how can I give money to my family?”

“Why don’t you just give them a fixed amount every month? You wouldn’t have to pay dormitory fees if you lived there.”

“They want it all! I’m lucky if I get two yuan for pocket money every month.” Sha Yue pouted. Before she had a job, she could get two or three yuan from her mother every month as pocket money, but now that she has a job, she has even less.

Wen Jiajia looked puzzled. “Do your brother and sister-in-law have jobs?”

Sha Yue held up her face and said, “Yes, my eldest brother works in the first workshop, my second brother is an electrician in the factory, and my third brother works at the scrap collection station in our street. As for my sisters-in-law, my eldest sister-in-law works in a textile factory, but she has to give half of her salary to her parents’ home. The second and third sisters-in-law don’t have jobs.”

Wen Jiajia sighed. She wanted to suggest Sha Yue try living in the dormitory; otherwise, family conflicts would worsen sooner or later, but she felt it was better not to talk too much with someone she had just met.

It turns out every family has its own problems.

Sha Yue fell asleep on the table, but Wen Jiajia continued working.

The pen tip kept moving, rustling on the paper.

When the sun moved, she would get up and adjust the paper on the window. Time passed quickly as she wrote and moved.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, the bell for work rang.

Wen Jiajia only had the last two days of data left to sort out, so she worked hard to finish while holding her bladder.

Finally—

Wen Jiajia opened the drawer with a “swish” sound, stuffed a stack of papers and notebooks into the drawer, closed it, and hurried to the toilet.

“Jia Jia, where are you going?” Sha Yue had just woken up, with two red marks on her face.

“Going to the toilet!”

“I’m coming too.”

She woke up and ran out.

Wen Jiajia felt something was strange. She seemed to have passed the stage where she had to hold hands with her sisters when going to the toilet.

Sha Yue asked, “You didn’t sleep all afternoon?”